Working woman and Lifestyle diseases

‘An apple a day, keeps the doctor away’, this may not necessarily hold true in today’s busy scenario, especially for women. Women play multiple roles- specially working women who have to balance between work and home resulting in negligence of their own health. Tight deadlines, work pressures, social networking, travel, etc. are just some of the common reasons of an increase in lifestyle ailments like obesity, depression, diabetes, blood pressure,etc. among women.

A survey conducted by a study released by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that 68% of working women surveyed within the age group of 21 to 52 years were suffering from lifestyle diseases. *

“Women in the age group of 20-40 are more prone to lifestyle diseases. Today women tend to give more importance to their careers rather than their own health. Work pressures lead them to eat more of junk food which leads to obesity and other health related issues. Lack of time forces them to get less amount and poor quality of sleep. A busy lifestyle results in lack of exercise and poor nutrition resulting in iron and calcium deficiency. Irritation and mental depression become a part of their lives which in turn badly affects the hormones that play a vital role in a woman’s body. Hormonal disturbances are increased with stress and then result in ovulation and polycystic ovarian diseases”, says a Gynaecologist from Mumbai.

Lifestyle diseases also depend on the kind of sector one is working in. Women in the Media sector, BPO’s, touring jobs are more prone to lifestyle diseases as these sectors are much more demanding of one’s time. One of the main reasons for a stressful life is the falling nutritional level which eats away into the immune system. “Being a journalist my working hours are not defined. I have to travel a lot and do a lot of running around and late nights to file a story and eat whatever I can lay my hands on. On top of that one has to attend all social events to stay in the crowd. This does leave me feeling tired and stressed at the end of the day. I feel lethargic and fall sick easily but still have to go to work as we can’t afford to take leave every time. I work six days a week and even on that one day off that I get, I have to finish all the household chores. I don’t get time to spend on my health or to look after myself”, comments a media professional.

It is one’s lifestyle that governs one’s health. Physical activity, how much you eat, what you eat, how do you manage your time, your habits, pollution…govern a person’s lifestyle and affects health. A balance between work and home, keeping one’s health in mind, is difficult but is certainly not an impossible task.